In terms of Livingston County election excitement this primary season (all on the Republican side), we do have a couple of very intriguing legislative races –incumbent Sen. Lana Theis vs. crazy Mike Detmer in the 22nd District and Jason Negri vs. Jason Woolford in the open Hamburg-Pinckney state rep race.
But the REAL marquee races in August of 2022 can be found on the county commission side. We have SIX greatly contested Republican primary races (out of just nine total districts), and these races feature a little of everything.
We’ve got nastiness and name-calling, we’ve got sign wars, we’ve got people trying to out-Trump each other and we’ve got one amazing race in which a 76-year-old incumbent is on the ballot – and she’s BY FAR the youngest candidate in the race.
When it comes to nastiness and punches being thrown, no race in Livingston County can top the District 5 battle (city of Howell and Marion Township) between incumbent Jay Drick and the challenger, former Howell Mayor Nick Proctor. These guys don’t like each other, and they’re letting us know it.
Ah, but when you talk about which of these six races will ultimately end up being the closest, where do you turn?
Well, we’ll find out for sure in August, but as I sit here now, here are the races – in order – that I think will be the closest once all the votes are counted.
1. The District 2 race between Dave Domas and Carol Sue Reader (Deerfield and Tyrone townships, part of Oceola Township)
This is one of the most intriguing races I’ve ever seen in Livingston County, and I’ve been following this stuff since God was a baby. In fact, I even have a personal connection to one of the people in this race.
In District 2, we have perhaps the all-time-oldest-candidate match-up in Livingston County history.
Incumbent commissioner Carol Sue Reader, age 76, is the spring chicken in the race. Her opponent is former county commissioner Dave Domas, age 85. He’s been off the commission for four years, and now he wants back on.
Reader is a former judge who was aged-out of that job four years ago (judges can’t run for office if they’re older than 70), so she left the court and got elected to the county commission instead.
And now Domas, who used to have the seat, wants it back. Reader doesn’t want to give it to him.
This one turned nasty last week when Reader filed a CRIMINAL complaint against Domas, alleging that he was putting out campaign materials that said “Re-elect Dave Domas.” That’s a no-no, because Domas isn’t technically running for re-election.
So, of course, the Michigan State Police are spending time looking into it, because there’s no better use of police resources than to investigate what an 85-year-old county commission candidate is putting on his campaign signs.
As for my personal connection to all of this, it was exactly 20 years ago – August of 2002 – that I ran for state representative against Dave Domas and four other guys in the Republican primary. Domas initially won that election by just two votes over Joe Hune and then a recount was held, and after the dust settled on that, it was Hune who had a two-vote victory. I was 150 votes behind, which means I got nothing.
In any case, that was 20 years ago, back when Domas was a 65-year-old whippersnapper. Now he’s an 85-year-old political veteran looking for one last go-round.
It says here that THIS one will end up being the closest primary race of 2022. Reader is a brand name around the county, especially in her home township of Deerfield. Domas is just as beloved and entrenched in Tyrone.
This one could come down to a literal handful of votes.
2. The District 5 race between Jay Drick and Nick Proctor (Howell city and Marion Township)
While the Michigan State Police aren’t involved (unlike the Reader-Domas race), this one is by far the nastiest race in the county. Drick is a well-known Howell attorney and former Livingston County magistrate who once ran for judge against Theresa Brennan (we all wish we could have a do-over on THAT election), and to say he’s not shy about speaking his mind is like saying that water isn’t shy about being wet.
He’s been on the county commission for two years and it looked like he was going to sail to re-election until right before the filing deadline, when Proctor, the former Howell mayor who is equally as well-known, filed to run against him. Drick was not happy about this and he’s put out a variety of campaign materials that accuse Proctor of being a tax-raising liberal.
Proctor might be a pragmatist but he’s most certainly not a liberal.
In any case, this one is also likely to go down to the wire.
3. The District 9 race between Jay Gross and Brenda Plank (Green Oak Township and most of Hamburg Township
This is the only incumbent-vs.-incumbent match-up, pitting Hamburg’s Jay Gross against Green Oak’s Brenda Plank. They’re both relative newcomers to the board and they’ve both worked hard in their districts, so it’s quite possible that this could end up being the county’s closest commissioner race.
Gross was appointed to the seat in 2020 and then won a full term later that year. Plank became somewhat of a Republican hero that same year when she won back the 9th District seat that had been filled by Gary Childs. Childs, who had been elected in 2018 as a Republican, upset the GOP faithful when he switched parties late in his term. When Childs decided not to run for re-election, Plank stepped in and won the seat back for the Republicans.
4. The District 3 race between Dan Delmerico, Meghan Reckling and Frank Sample (Iosco, Putnam and Unadilla townships, parts of Handy and Hamburg townships)
While this is technically a three-person race, it’s actually a two-person race. Delmerico, a former Democrat who served as the Iosco Township clerk for 20 years, is on the ballot but doesn’t appear to be campaigning. Reckling and Sample, meanwhile, are campaigning very, very hard.
Reckling is the chair of the Livingston County Republican Party and yes, you’ve heard of her. She’s very conservative.
Frank Sample, meanwhile, is a Pinckney resident who claims that HE’S the true conservative in the race. And while Reckling has to be considered the favorite, Sample has collected an interesting assortment of endorsements, including State Rep. Bob Bezotte (who is, um, no fan of Reckling), Dave Domas, Mike Detmer and Livingston County Register of Deeds Brandon Denby.
Reckling’s list of endorsements is equally as impressive if not more so, including former State Rep. Hank Vaupel, Prosecutor David Reader, Drain Commissioner Brian Jonckheere, Putnam Township Supervisor Dennis Brennan, Handy Township Trustee David Roddy and a host of others.
5. The District 8 race between Tabitha Dolan, Nick Fiani and Jim Mortenson (Parts of Genoa and Hamburg townships)
Interesting one here. You’ve got one current elected official (Genoa Trustee Jim Mortenson) against two former elected officials (former Brighton School Board member Nick Fiani and former Pinckney School Board member Tabitha Dolan). Fiani hasn’t had much success getting elected to anything since his school board days but he’s picked up a lot of endorsements in this race, including the coveted Right to Life one. He looks like the one to beat here.
6. The District 6 race between Roger Deaton and Daniel Schifko (parts of Brighton, Genoa and Oceola townships)
They’ve both been endorsed by Right to Life, but it’s hard to see where Schifko (a Brighton Township trustee and the treasurer of the county GOP) has been doing much campaigning. He’s extremely well-connected in the Republican Party, but doesn’t appear to have a campaign website or Facebook page, while Deaton has both – along with some impressive endorsements, including Bezotte and former State Rep. Cindy Denby. All of which makes it hard to get a read on this one.
